I Am Because We Are

Turning Four Letter Words into Hugs

Turning 27 years the Linux Kernel, the child of Linus Torvalds, becomes a mature, or turning 26 years if you take the date the Kernel became Open Source. Reaching this age we all should be a little more wise, or at least, we would like to be. This year has seen Linus Torvald’s taking his sabbatical whilst he found his inner calm; just last month we heard that over 4000 lines of comments had been edited in the Kernel repository changing F**k and its derivatives to hugs.

Now I have not worked with or for Linus, so it is not for me to comment, but without his passion would we have Linux? Many great ideas are developed but only few of these ideas truly blossom. Much of this success comes from the passion that a team can produce.

Accepting Criticism

Firstly, I am not a Kernel developer so I don’t spend much time looking at the code; however, I have never seen comments as destined for Booker prize nominations. I am not sure that we should be judging their literary content but the message and how well it is put across. Sometimes F**K is the word for all seasons.

Secondly, we have all probably received critiques, some welcome and some, perhaps not. Accepting a bad critique especially when sent from a half-brained toad from Tadcaster is not easy. My apologies to those of you who live in Tadcaster, give me a shout-out if you live there. Take from it what you will, the same with good critique. Picking and choosing what you wish to remember is a good habit to develop. Having been on YouTube for nearly 10 years now and I have become resilient to comments that are not welcome.

Delegating With Respect

If you want something done, maybe if we had 40 hours in a day, we could do it ourselves. We know it would then be done properly and the way we want. Unfortunately, we have 24 hours in a day and we need sleep. I have found without sleep the F word is more frequent and more chairs are upturned than can be found in the office. We have to delegate but what level of language and tone is really acceptable in the work place. When does passion become abuse.

There is, of course, no answer but we can discuss and think. Not just about this, but about ourselves and our workplaces. First, let’s look at Ubuntu, no not the Distro from Canonical, but the word:

Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity“. It is often translated as “I am because we are,”. Others see this as meaning simply “Respect”

Ubuntu meaning

So Linus is who he is thanks to his fellow Kernel developers and the team at the Linux Foundation. Equally, the Linux Foundation is what it is because of Linus. Ubuntu is multi-directional. Many of us who enjoy and make our living from Linux owe so much to Linus, his team and the ethics of Open Source Software.

Misunderstood Passion

Creativity is borne out of passion and without passion we would have a watery broth that no one enjoys or wants. Without Linus, Linux becomes the OS2-Warp of our time and banished to the forgotten caves of IT history.

Taking a look at this from a personal perspective, I have been described as passionate: an alternative term used to describe a trainer with a fiery temper 🙂 . What annoys me is that the system administrator is too frightened to investigate. A training course is the best place to learn. Don’t ask me “What happens if I do this”. “DO IT” and learn. It is a true passion where I love those who want to learn and develop and have less time for the naysayers.

Finally, I would like to thank anyone who has attended a training course I have delivered either here in the UK or those in Australia. I do know the vast majority of you have enjoyed and benefited from the efforts that you put into your own learning. Ubuntu to you all